Wood wrestling wins Walters/Copp tourney with 4 champions; Sherando claims third

WINCHESTER — Orion Cox had one final opportunity to win the annual Willie Walters/Jaye Copp wrestling tournament. He made the most of that opportunity this weekend.

The Colonels took first place in the 13-team tournament on Saturday, scoring 268 points, 25 more than second-place finisher Fairfax (243) and 90 more than third-place finisher Sherando (178).

Cox (215 pounds) was one of four champions for the Colonels on Saturday alongside Hayden Black (106), Hayden Franks (138) and Jesse Woodson (157).

After two byes, Cox (14-3) pinned Broad Run’s Danyal Qureshi in 53 seconds to advance to the semifinals. Cox then pinned Liberty’s Joel Morris in the third period with 1:15 remaining. Facing off against Brentsville’s Sawyer Beckman in the championship match, Cox recorded his third pin of the day, taking down Beckman 27 seconds into the second round to win the 215-pound weight class.

After placing fourth at 190 at last year’s Walters/Copp Tournament, Cox was thrilled to be a champion on his home mat as a senior.

“It means a lot because I've worked really hard to get into this [position],” Cox said. “And for being my last year and the first time I've ever placed first at this, it feels really good.”

James Wood coach Cory Crenshaw said he didn’t get to watch Cox closely in his championship match, but when he glanced over, he thought Cox stayed even keeled.

“From what I saw, he stayed composed,” Crenshaw said of Cox. “He didn't try to overexert himself, especially when you get up to some of those heavier weight classes and getting underneath somebody may not be the best option for you. So he did well. He got on into good position [and] finished the match early.”

Crenshaw was glad to see Cox and the Colonels’ three other champions come out on top in Donald H. Shirley Gymnasium. Franks (10-8) won his championship match by decision (10-7) over Brentsville's Mark Griggs. Woodson (4-1) defeated Loudoun Valley's Sebastian Griffiths by technical fall (26-9).

“[With] what the competition was today, our guys really showed a little bit of grit and understanding of being at home,” Crenshaw said. “It does mean something to win it home, of course, but [it was good to see] their effort and their understanding of what we're trying to drive for as a team to get ready for this postseason run.”

Black, who won at 106 at last year’s Walters/Copp Tournament, defeated Sherando’s Blake Kelly in the semifinal match, pinning Kelly 1:03 into the second round. Black (16-0) then defeated Fairfax’s Mai Nguyen 18-0 for a technical fall win to claim the championship.

“It feels really good,” Black said. “[We’re] always just putting the work in, so it was just kind of expected to go out there and perform like you practice.”

With how Black has started the season, Crenshaw sees him going far if he can stay upright.

“He's had a strong year already, and we're just trying to make sure he stays healthy,” Crenshaw said of Black. “He's got a great shot at the state level here. So with him, he goes out there, and he gets that early takedown [in the championship match], and he's confident in what he's got going on. He's transitioning well, which we've been talking about with him. He just stayed composed and dominant the whole time through working towards that tech fall.”

Crenshaw said that not every team in Saturday’s tournament had full lineups. That included Sherando, which was without four wrestlers who competed at The Beast of the East Tournament in Delaware.

“We were able to have [close to] a full lineup, and that kind of really helped us put a lot of points up there on the board,” said Crenshaw, whose team was without 132-pounder Max Mooney because of the Beast of the East. “You know, Fairfax was not far behind, and I know that they, as well as Sherando and a couple of other schools, they had kids at the Beast of the East this weekend... It's kind of hard to say where we all ended up. I know on paper, we're winning the tournament, [and] we're happy about it.

“It's good as we go into this holiday area right now, we're going to be off for a couple of weeks just to get healthy and recover. It lets the guys end off on a positive here. Hopefully when we come back from this break, they understand where we're at, and it's going to just continue to progress for us.”

Sherando was without three-time Class 4 state champion Anthony Lucchiani, as well as Carter Straight, Judson Dean and Damien Costello, who were all at the Beast of the East.

In light of the depleted lineup, the Warriors received a boost from senior Jason Foster (190), who had four pins, the most of any individual wrestler in the tournament, and ended up winning his weight class on Saturday.

Foster played football for the Warriors in 2022 and led the team in rushing that year. While he was on the football roster this year after missing the 2023 season, he didn’t see the field this fall. That hasn’t stopped the 190-pound senior from making his mark on the mat.

Sherando coach Brian Kibler said he doesn’t believe Foster (5-3) had any competitive wrestling experience prior to this season other than possibly some jiu-jitsu.

“He is a straight-up athlete,” Kibler said of Foster. “I mean, there's not a whole lot of things on the wrestling mat that he can't do. It's just a matter of him knowing when to use it and trying to get him to develop a little bit of strategy for tighter matches.”

Kibler added that Foster approached him about joining the team before this season.

“He came to us,” Kibler said. “I think he's friends with a couple of guys on the team, and was like, ‘You know what? I'm gonna try it.’ And he did, and I'm glad he did, and I think that he's glad he did. Days like today are good, and hopefully he's got a lot more good days ahead of him.”

Along with Foster, Ben Taylor (175) won his weight class off a disqualification by Amherst County’s Colby Cox in the championship match. Taylor (6-3) had two pins and a major decision in the three prior matches.

Kibler said that Taylor’s championship bout with Colby Cox was a rematch of last week’s match at the Andrew Kenney Memorial Duals Tournament — that Sherando went 7-0 at — in which Colby Cox pinned Taylor.

Kibler was glad to see Taylor return the favor by claiming a championship on Saturday.

“Just him getting back into the swing of things, he looked more like where Ben Taylor left off last year today,” Kibler said. “Just being more comfortable on the mat than what he did last week, so that was very, very encouraging to see.”

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